KhunDennis

There is a big coal fired electric plant in the hills outside of Lampang. Mai Mah electric plant, and also lignite mines nearby.

It is however a very high tech plant, with very little emission. On clear days, All you see is a little steam coming from the stacks. I went on a tour through it ,and it is very impresive. Got to give them credit for doing this one right.

It is good to see people talking about this air problem. Maybe it will bring it out into the open more.

I just wish the Thai government would talk to the people and make a plan. I ask my wife if it is on the local news , and it is not.

I still see huge fires all the time here, the people really need to get the message.

I to am fond of tomatos, and this year I found seeds from Thailand that produce a very nice tastey tomato. They have comparable flavor to the ones I used to enjoy in the US. The company name is , Chua Yong Seng Seed Co., Ltd. Phone 662 225-4313 The name of the variaty on the pack is F1 Hybrid tomato. I sprouted the seeds in peet pots and planted them in full sun. They have done very well and have lots of tomatos, about 3 inch. in diameter. It has been a real treat having them.

There is so much smoke in the air, my eyes were burning inside my house. I was watching a fellow working in his rice fields next door, using one of those back pack sprayers. The only protective device he had were rubber boots. Between the smoke and chemicals he was spraying, he sounded like he was coughing his guts out.

You would think someone in the government would step up and address this issue . Maybe if all the tour buses would arive in Chiang Mai empty for a while, it would send them a message. Do you think ?

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Another smokey day in Lampang. You could almost make out the outline of the hills and then this afternoon, the fires started again. Huge clouds of smoke in the distance. Tonight you could see big fires high up on the hillls, clearing land I am told. It is getting depresing, have not seen a nice clear day since before December. What a place to retire to.

The air is also very bad here in Lampang. Can't see the hills in the distance and grey haze everywhere. Drove into town yesterday and was hard to see the traffic lights a few blocks down the road. Been like this for some time now. Still, I see big colums of smoke all around. Looks like people would see cause and effect eventually.

I live way out of town in the country side, and the air is worse than most cites I have been in. Can not see the hills in the distance, and the smoke just hangs over the rice fields. It is very disapointing to retire to a place and have this about three months out of the year. I feel like I will damage my lungs, by taking a bicycle ride for my health. Still you constantly see huge coloms of smoke daily, from all kinds of fires and most people don't seem to mind. My wife thinks I complain too much when I mention it.

I live in the Ubon area, and am wanting to watch the Super Bowl game. Does anyone know the time and date it will be shown on local broadcast TV. I don't have UBC yet. Thanks for info.

WOW !!!! Younghusband

Tell us how you really feel. I seem to be detecting some negativity here.

Hello all, I live in the Ubon area and am wanting to buy a new Rotary tiller , the type with two wheels and front or rear blades with anound five HP. The kind used for home gardening. Also I want a lawn mower with a good sized bagger on it. I have not seen any around Ubon.

Would any of you good folk know where I might buy these things, am willing to have them shipped from Bangkok if needed. Thanks for any help on this.

I don't believe you will find any spray can paint to match. It is not available in the US at least. It would be a different kind of paint and just too many colour variables for them to make it. Maybe you could go to a body shop and have them mix you up some touch up paint and apply it with a brush, if it is only a very small chip or scratch. It kind of depends on how critical you are, unless it is done profesionaly with a spray gun you will see the the repair.

I certainly did not intend to turn this into a political debate, my apolo gies. I just wanted to make a light hearted statement about an old favorite food.

Thank you all for the advice, most kind of you. Looks like we just have to do what we have to do, and hope for the best next year.

Regards , Dennis

When I transfer funds it is into a joint account. Believe if you need to use account for a shortfall you will probably have to have double the required amount on deposit but believe if you do it would be accepted, by most. But probably best to go with what you were told and just set up easy access for the wife if unable to meet requirements with income paper.

Thank you for the information, but I guess I need it spelled out for me.

Is this the case?

1- Deposit account-- If you have a joint account, do you need double the amount for yourself, say 1,600,000 instead of 800,000 Baht?

2- Income Account-- If you have a joint account can you, deposit the 65,000 Baht a month income to it , or does this deposit need to be doubled also?

3- If I have joint deposit account, and have to make up an income shortfall, you would need twice the amount since it is a joint account?

Sorry if this is getting confusing, it would be nice if immigration would spell out the rules a little better. Thanks again.

Use your pension income as the basis of your support. No need for any bank account minimum if that meets the requirements.

Otherwise link the account so wife can transfer with your ATM card. I suspect that you can also designate a "pay on death beneficiary" just as in the USA but have not checked that option. My account is joint, on retirement, but using pension income.

Thanks for the info, do I understand corectly that your pension income is put into a join account?

I was thinking of having a bank account with say 400,000 B, and pension income added to the same account, with a flow of money coming in and out. I think my pension money will fall just a bit short of the requierd amount.

I and my Thai wife have been married for fourteen years and lived in the US for ten years, before I retired and moved to Thailand. We have allways had a joint bank account, usuall for most couples I think. They accepted the joint account, when I first applied for a retirement visa in the US and each year after that when I renewed it in Thailand. This year they refused and said the account has to be in my name only. I did this and got the visa, but am not comfortable about it. I am working out a new plan for next year, not sure what yet, but I resent them telling me what to do with my ( and my wifes ) money. If I fall ill or die, it makes it harder for her to deal with things, what would be some advise from you all, about this issue.

I went to Chiang Mai this morning to get my fourth renewal on a retirement visa. I had all the paper work in apple pie order as allways, with over a million and a half Baht in the bank. They refused it because they no longer accept a joint bank account , with my wife of fourteen years. Now I am forced to play thier bullshit games, with the bank books, which really pisses me off!!!!!!!

I am sure they would much rather be munching on thier sos in a safe and comfortable chow hall back home, rather than the places they are sent to. Don't blame them for the lame brained government, it is a sad situation all way around.

This is a partial,list of some of the things they did when building this house.

1 varnished over doors without sanding or taking off the labels and pencil marks.

2 walked on kitchen ceramic counters with work shoes and got welding slag on them

3 cut the holes for switch plates and outlets to big on the really nice ceramic wall coverings we paid extra for.

3 put down cement patio and walks outside, then used it as a mixing board for making another batch of cement. "All discoulerd with chiping lumps of cement. That one really gets me.

4 I could go on and on, but I am giving myself a headache and reliving an unpleasant time, so I think I will just stop and try to forget about it.

Oh yeh, and driving in screws with a hammer so they bend and you can hardly get them out again!!!

My wife and I bent over backwards to be friendly to the people building our house, giving them snacks and drinks. I made it very clear at the first, I wanted them to be happy with the conditions and make a fair profit,and I in return, wanted a nice house. They set the price on everything and we did not quible on the money. All of your good will and intentions does not matter, if the people building the place don't give a dam about what they are doing. Like was said before, they started great, but the finish work was just plain bad and none of them cared.

Carefull now, you are stepping on hallowed ground when you start being critical of SOS, it has sustained GIs for generations. I was in the Air Force also, and still have fond memories of it. Except when they made it from left over sandwich cold cuts, yuk not a pretty sight. To fellow lovers of SOS, they make a really good one at the Texas Lone Staar, in Washington Square, Bangkok. A couple of fried eggs on the top and a side of home fried potatoes, now were talking!!!

Is anyone with a Wells Fargo atm card having problems, with it being rejected. I have heard that they have blocked out Thailand because of security issues. If this is the case , how long does it last, and what do they think, the customers do for money? Does anyone out there have any ideas on this, seems like a shaby way to treat you account holders.

What a lot of interesting comments and ideas, from you all. I wish that I had some of you as mentors before I had this house built. I will be the first to admit that my knowledge in construction is nil and I trusted the contracters too much. They talked the good talk, but fell down on the walk. They were masterfull at making escuses though. Most things can be fixed, but things like a nice slate floor we paid extra for, was put down without a nice flush top surface, so there are edges that stick up, that anoy me when I clean it. Things like that can't be fixed so easily.

GuestHouse: I am fully aware that there are some fine craftsmen in Thailand, which makes it even more frustrating when you see people that are working on your house that simply don't care about what they are doing and or don't know what they are doing. It all comes back to the money, some people take pride in thier work and some just want to make easy money as fast as possible. It is no different in the US, I saw it daily in my own trade there. It can be controled to a degree with a good superviser, but without that, you get shody work. And another point is if the workers are not properly looked after by the contracter, like getting paid well, they get an attitude also. Unfortunaly we had two partners and one of them used a lot of the money for his own wants and left everyone in a lurch. A third party, a store in Lampang was suposed to be collecting the payments and handling the building materials, and seeing things were done, did not work out either. It left too many people, to point finger at the other guy and say it was thier fault.